Along with the Gallup Analytics database, Vanderbilt University's subscription also provides access to microdata files. These files, which contain anonymized questionnaire-level data, provide researchers a more granular view of several Gallup public opinion polls: US Tracking Poll, World Poll, Gallup Poll Social Series (GPSS), Confidence in Institutions Poll, COVID-19 Panel Survey, Race Relations Survey, and Honesty and Ethics in Professions Survey.
Brief summaries of the surveys and a table detailing the contents of each dataset are provided below. In accordance with the Gallup Poll microdata license, Vanderbilt University makes available additional documentation and data dictionaries through a separate password-protected guide. For access to these reference data, please contact either Ask a Librarian.
The Gallup Poll microdata files are available for non-commercial research purposes by Vanderbilt University faculty, students, and researchers. See below for additional information about license and use restrictions.
The Vanderbilt Libraries have acquired Gallup public opinion poll microdata for research and instructional use by Vanderbilt University faculty, students, and researchers.
By requesting access to the page containing survey documentation and data dictionaries, you are agreeing to the License Grant signed by the Vanderbilt Libraries, which include the terms below. Violating these terms will jeopardize continuing access to Gallup microdata for the entire VU community.
Vanderbilt users may download, use, and manipulate the data. They may create reports and publish externally, redistribute, and manipulate such reports, so long as such externally distributed reports do not contain only Gallup data and so long as Gallup data are not included in a report in a quantity or specificity that could reasonably be deemed to be a substitute for acquiring the data from Gallup. Reports must include attribution when Gallup data are included without modification or are used as a direct source of analysis.
The Gallup US Tracking Poll -- also known as US Tracker and formerly known as the US Daily Tracking Poll or the US Dailies -- microdata covers polls conducted during individual years, 2008-2017, aiming to sample 1,000 respondents per day throughout the year, and 2018-2019, with a similar sample on a weekly and monthly basis. The microdata provide year, month, date, and day of the week variables; geographic variables include region, state, metropolitan area, congressional district, and ZIP code. (NB. ZIP Codes average a dozen respondents each per year.) Weighting variables are provided to produce nationwide estimates from the sample data.
From 2008 through 2017, the Gallup US Daily Tracking Poll had two survey components: Politics & Economics (PE) and Well Being (BE) with similar methodologies.
At the beginning of 2018, the Well Being (WB) component was renamed : it is now the National Health and Well-Being Index. The Well-Being component also changed to a monthly mail questionnaire. The Politics & Economics (PE) component, also known as US Tracker, changed to a weekly telephone survey. In effect, the US Daily Tracking Poll's two components have been split and the microdata are presented in two files per survey year.
The 2018 PE survey has 92 variables and approximately 1,500 records per week; the 2018 WB survey has 144 variables and approximately 10,000 records per month. The Well-Being component ceased with the August 2019 data collection period. The typical annual US Daily Tracking Poll microdata dataset contains more than 350,000 records - 1,000 records per day - with up to 200 variables.
The Gallup World Poll microdata dataset covers polls conducted in 168 countries during individual years, 2006-2022. 57 countries have been surveyed in all years (through 2022), and 143 countries have been surveyed in eight or more years. Annual national samples typically survey 1,000 respondents, with some annual national samples surveying 2,000, 4,000, or even 10,000 respondents. Weighting variables are provided to produce nationwide estimates from the sample data.
The current release of the Gallup World Poll contains 2,591,054 cases with 2,694 variables.
The Gallup Poll Social Series is a set of twelve topical surveys. Each survey is administered during the same month each year, 2000 or 2001 to present. Surveys within the topical survey series uses the same core-question sequencing. GPSS survey microdata are provided in cumulative datasets that present responses to questions asked in more than one survey year.
The number of observations and variables vary across the monthly surveys. As of the most recent Gallup update, the January survey--Mood of the Nation--has the fewest observations (19,860) and variables (236). The August survey--Work & Education--contains the most observations (23,859) and the February survey--World Affairs--has the most variables (433).
Gallup has asked Confidence in Institutions poll questions since 1973, bienially (1973-1983) or annually (1984-present). Polls in which the questions are asked typically have 1,180 U.S. respondents each year. The questions have been asked most often in June, although individual poll years have seen the questions asked in other months.
The current microdata dataset has 51,424 respondents for 43 years (1973-2022), with 160 variables.
Starting in March 2020, Gallup has been surveying Americans on their lives during the COVID-19 crisis. The Gallup Panel COVID-19 Survey asks questions assessing the crisis, social distancing, COVID-19 vaccines, personal and financial disruption, workplace change and disruption, U.S. COVID-19 public policy and leadership, COVID-19 and the economy, COVID-19 and the media, and the wellbeing of U.S. adults and children, .
The Gallup Panel COVID-19 Survey is a web-administered simple random sample survey of Gallup Panel members. The Gallup Panel is a probability-based nationally representative panel of U.S. adults. Gallup Panel COVID-19 Survey data collection started on March 13, 2020 and has undergone two subsequent revisions. The survey is fielded via web with an English-language questionnaire only.
Gallup Panel COVID-19 Survey microdata are provided in SPSS sav and Stata dta formats. The current dataset has 839 variables for 191,763 cases through February 2023.
The Race Relations Survey includes topics that previously were represented in the GPSS Minority Relations Survey, which Gallup discontinued in 2016. Gallup conducted the Race Relations Survey in November 2018.
The Race Relations Survey contains 146 variables and 6,503 observations.
Starting in 1976, Gallup started measuring US perceptions of the honesty and ethics of a list of professions. The Honesty and Ethics in Professions Survey dataset includes data ranging from 1976 to 2022.
The Honesty and Ethics in Professions Survey includes 43,540 observations across 164 variables.
| Dataset | Observations | Variables | Date Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Daily Tracker 2008-2017 | 340,604 - 356,599 | 142-237 | 2008-2017 |
| US Daily Tracker Politics & Economy 2018 | 75,669 | 92 | 2018 |
| US Daily Tracker Well Being 2018 | 115,929 | 150 | 2018 |
| US Daily Tracker Well Being 2019 | 9,645 | 146 | 2019 |
| World Poll | 2,591,054 | 2,694 | 2006-2023 |
| GPSS - Mood of the Nation | 19,860 | 236 | 2001-2008, 2012-2023 |
| GPSS - World Affairs | 23,191 | 433 | 2000-2022 |
| GPSS - The Environment | 23,432 | 312 | 2000-2022 |
| GPSS - Economy & Personal Finance | 23,359 | 317 | 2001-2022 |
| GPSS - Moral Values & Beliefs | 22,849 | 348 | 2001-2022 |
| GPSS - Minority Rights & Relations | 22,193 | 308 | 2003-2008, 2013, 2015-2016 |
| GPSS - Consumption Habits | 22,815 | 331 | 2001-2022 |
| GPSS - Work & Education | 23,859 | 360 | 2001-2022 |
| GPSS - Governance | 23,064 | 258 | 2001-2022 |
| GPSS - Crime | 23,686 | 309 | 2000-2022 |
| GPSS - Health & Health Care | 21,995 | 284 | 2001-2022 |
| Confidence in Institutions Poll | 51,424 | 160 | 1973-2022 |
| COVID-19 Panel Survey | 191,763 | 839 | 2020-2023 |
| Race Relations Survey | 6,503 | 146 | 2018 |
| Honesty and Ethics in Professions Survey | 43,540 | 164 | 1976-2022 |
